Newbies Build Killer Robot; Fortune Fawns

Killer robots might have just had their dot-com bubble moment, in this fawning Fortunearticle. The stars: "a 25-year-old self-taught engineer named Adam Gettings" and his "toy-like but gun-wielding robot designed to replace human soldiers on the battlefield."

The ‘bot — the Robotex AH, it’s called — went "from idea to product" in six months. It costs a little more than a Prius. "It’s two feet tall, travels ten miles an hour, and… it’ll blow a ten-inch hole through a steel door with deadly accuracy from 400 meters."

Because cheap and made-in-a-hurry is exactly what you want in a rolling laptop with a gun. Talk about the blue screen of death.

Gettings’ company doesn’t have much of an online signature — not even a website. But he does have some interesting partners, including former Disney imagineer Terry Izumi (who cooked up this video for the ‘bot) and shotgun maker Jerry Barber (who provided the firepower). Blackwater has also endorsed the product, allegedly.

According to Fortune, "It’s a classic Silicon Valley tale of a few engineers who do what they’re best at, team up with some kindred spirits, and together build a product to take on the establishment."

First, the entire armory will go on display in Blackwater’s lobby. That should get some attention. If not, he’s counting on a public outcry.

"If moms and dads around the country find out this system is available while their sons are off sopping up bullets in Iraq, they’re going to tear the White House down," he says. "This will take the soldiers out of harm’s way."

Just to review: There are, I believe, a grand total of three armed robots in Iraq right now. None of them have fired a shot in combat — in part, because the military is scared to death of what happens when one of those radio-controlled machines accidentally starts shooting civilians, or G.I.s. It’s not-unreasonable concern; after all, a remotely-operated cannon in South Africa recently malfunctioned, and killed nine soldiers in the process.
So why am I not exactly comforted by the idea of a self-trained engineer, a ex-Disney dude, and a Blackwater buddy coming up with with a quick-and-dirty killer robot?